


Sometimes We Argue

by writerstrash



Series: Mr. Stark & His Kid [6]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Iron Dad, Other, Spider-son, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-09
Updated: 2019-09-09
Packaged: 2020-09-24 01:14:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20349919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writerstrash/pseuds/writerstrash





	Sometimes We Argue

Peter knew he was in trouble. He had known from the moment he heard the Iron Man thrusters closing in on the rooftop almost ten minutes ago. He was meant to be at school, he was meant to be Peter Parker the teenager today, not Spider-Man. They had already had so many arguments about Peter's 'work-life balance'. May and Tony wanted him to be a kid, be normal, do his homework and get good grades. He was a smart kid and he could go anywhere with his life. But he needed to actually live his life first.

Tony had already limited his patrolling over the past week due to Karen's inability to keep information from the man. Peter spent more time out in the suit than he did at home, at school, in bed - literally anywhere else.

Peter waited for the criminals to be loaded into the back of the police car out on the street before he stepped away from the building ledge, pulling off his mask and watching as Tony stared back at him, arms folded. Disappointed.

"What was I supposed to do?" Peter sighed, already knowing the argument Tony was going to start.

"Call the police, like any normal person would!" Tony shook his head.

"But I'm not a normal person! I can help and I can do it quicker than the police-"

"The police are there for a reason, Peter. There's a line between helping out and being a vigilante."

"I'm not a vigilante, I know the police are doing their jobs," Peter denied.

"Then let them do their jobs," Tony pleaded. "Did you just sit at school today looking for a way out? A reason to get in the suit?"

Peter groaned, already hating this conversation. No matter how many times they had it, Tony didn't understand. Peter could never make him see the logic behind his decisions that Tony saw as reckless, thoughtless and stupid.

"I don't go looking for it, Mr. Stark."

"It kinda sounds like you do, kid."

"You know I can sense it happening," Peter reminded him. "It's pretty hard to ignore."

"Then try harder," Tony bit back. "Look, all your teachers know that you're intelligent. They know you're a smart kid. But it doesn't mean you get to miss out on more than half their classes for no reason at all. Your attendance is putting you on their radar, and that's the last thing someone like you needs."

Peter shook his head.

"You don't know what it's like,"

"To see bad shit happen and have to let other people handle it? I know what that's like, Pete."

"How about letting bad shit happen to someone else when you can feel it coming? When you have a chance to stop it and to protect them?" Peter raised his voice, almost yelling now. "A lot of bad stuff happens around here, it always has and it always will, but someone needs to help when no one else can. When the police can't get their fast enough, when no one knows and no one hears, or when people do see and they just do nothing about it."

"You can't be the watchful eye of this city all the time Peter," Tony groaned. "You have to know when to step back. This can't be your whole life. You're a kid, so be a kid. Go to school, hang out with friends, do your homework. No one said you can't be Spider-Man, but I'm saying you need to be Peter too."

Peter looked back at him with his jaw set firmly, unable to bite back with more words. They had all been said before. Over and over and over. This conversation might as well be pre-recorded at this point to save them both their breath.

"Haven't you got somewhere more important to be?" Peter asked, pulling on his mask. "Or are you using your commute time to come yell at me again?"

Tony sighed.

"Peter-"

"Never mind, I gotta go, wouldn't want my attendance to slip."

Peter jumped from the building without another glance toward his mentor.

* * *

Two weeks later, they had another argument. This one Tony saw coming. As soon as he heard about the crime going on downtown, Tony made sure Peter wouldn't make it there in time. Iron Man didn't typically take on a dozen armed men at a gang shoot-out, but it was well within the realm of exactly what Spider-Man would swing into. 

When Tony saw the red suit jumping through the air, he readied himself for one seriously pissed off teenager. And that's exactly what he got.

"Okay, it was a dick move, I know," Tony sighed, shaking his head. "But I'm not gonna apologise, kid."

Peter ripped off his mask.

"You don't have the right to do that," Peter growled. "You got Karen to give me the wrong directions? You can't hack my suit-"

"Your suit?" Tony asked, folding his arms. "I made that suit, Pete. To keep you safe. Not to help you find the crimes in this city with the biggest risk of getting yourself shot."

"What's the point of having this suit if I can't use it to do my job!" 

"Not all of it is your job," Tony shook his head. "You know that. I've said it a million times."

"What if someone died because I didn't make it here on time?" Peter asked, furious.

"The police were handling it. I was here for backup, barely. They're trained to deal with all of this."

"Someone could have been shot by the time they got there!"

"_You_ could have been shot, Peter. Did you think about that?"

Peter shook his head, and let out a long groan, rubbing the back of his neck.

"You still think I'm some kid, Mr. Stark," he laughed. "This is what I do. I help people when no one else can!"

"But other people _can _help, that's what I'm saying. Not every bad thing is your personal burden to carry,"

Peter continued to shake his head in disbelief, his face now a mixture of amused and seething. 

"You know why I go out and do this," Peter told him.

"To help the little guy, I know. But this? This isn't a mugging or a car jacking or something the little guy might have to worry about. This is two gangs in a shootout. Why would you try and race here before the police?"

"A gang shootout in the middle of the street! There are people everywhere! Someone could have been-"

"This isn't about that, alright? This is about risk assessment for _yourself_, kid. How are you going to help them if you get shot?"

"If I get shot, they get their chance to run," Peter explained. "I can heal, they can't!"

Tony stared back at Peter as if he had gone insane.

"You're happy to get shot?"

"If it saves someone else, yes. I've got the healing-"

"Healing won't do shit if you get shot where it matters," Tony warned. "And that's exactly where they would be aiming."

"I've got good reflexes,"

"Not good enough. Not when they're coming from every angle."

Peter scoffed.

"You don't think I'm good enough to save them,"

Tony let out a long sigh, dropping his head.

"You're totally missing my point here, Pete."

"No, you don't think I can do it. I'm more than just stopping muggers and car thieves,"

"I _know _you are. Believe me kid, I know you're capable,"

"Then why do you keep acting like I need to be protected? That I need to have a babysitter? I was doing this long before you ever met me-"

"Forgive me for not wanting you to get shot," Tony frowned.

"It's better I get shot than them!"

"Is that what I should say to Aunt May?" Tony asked, watching as Peter's face paled. "When you get shot in just the right spot and your healing doesn't cut it, is that what I tell her? Better you than them?"

Peter felt his stomach churning. His face turning red with rage. Everything in his body was reacting in different ways and all he wanted to do was lean down and throw up. He could see May crying, her heart breaking. 

The next morning, Tony found Peter's suit folded neatly on his kitchen bench. 

* * *

They went a week without saying a word to one another. It almost drove Tony mad not being back to see where Peter was, not being back to check in on him, not being back to have the usual back-and-forth while they both worked down in the lab. Having Peter in his life had changed him forever, and he didn't know how much longer he could stand this silence between them.

Even without being back to track the suit, Tony knew Peter was out there being Spider-Man. Maybe not as often, not in the middle of the day, but he was out there. In his low quality, makeshift suit, he was out there saving people as usual. 

Tony wanted to reach out and speak to the kid, explain that he did what he did because Peter means so much to him. That he couldn't deal with the idea of him being hurt when there was something he could do to prevent it.

But in the end, Peter showed up at the tower late one night, looking sad and sleepy, dressed in jeans and a baggy hoodie. Tony didn't say anything when Friday told him Peter was on his way up. The kid had clearance to come and go whenever he wanted to, and Tony wasn't sure if what kind of teenager he was about to faced with. But this one, this exhausted and tormented version, was breaking his heart.

"I'm still allowed to come over, right?" Peter asked, quietly.

"Always," Tony assured.

Peter gave a nod, unable to meet Tony's eyes. A moment later, Tony realized why. Peter's lip was trembling, his eyes filling with tears as they fell down his cheeks. Tony felt physically ill seeing him like this.

"Kid, it's okay," he whispered, moving forward to put his hands on Peter's shoulders. "Hey, hey it's alright Pete. It's alright."

Peter fell into Tony's arms then, clinging onto him for dear life. Tony could feel tears soaking into his shirt, but he didn't care. 

"I'm sorry," Peter cried, his breath hitching. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry-"

"Shh, don't do that, it's okay," Tony soothed. "Deep breaths, okay?"

"I c-can't-"

"You can, just focus on me," Tony instructed. "In, out, in, out."

Peter tried to listen to Tony's voice, but it was drowning in his thoughts that were louder.

"I don't want to hurt May, I don't want to hurt her, please, I'm sorry,"

"I know you don't Pete, I know," 

"No one was there for him, Mr. Stark," Peter explained. "No one. Just me, and I...I couldn't do anything. I couldn't help him. If I was...if he was here now..._now _I could save him, you know? I can save him now, but he's...it's too late. I wasn't enough, and now it's too late,"

Tony held him close, his chest feeling tighter with each cry he heard. He wanted to wrap Peter in his arms as firmly as he could, to let him know it was okay, it wasn't his fault. Ben wouldn't blame him, no one would. 

"Listen to me, okay?" Tony began, his voice uneven as he held the boy close. "He would be _so _proud of you, buddy. So proud."

"I sat there when he died, I just sat there and I couldn't do anything-"

"No one could have done anything, Pete. Sometimes...sometimes there's nothing anyone can do, it just goes that way. It's shitty and it's not fair and it sucks and it never goes away, but it's _not _your fault."

"But I can stop them now, I can stop the people like the ones who killed Ben. I can save Ben now,"

"Not at the cost of losing you, kid," Tony shook his head. "Do you think he would want you to die? You can save people and that's amazing and you're so good Peter, but you have people who need you here too. People that would just...just wouldn't cope if anything happened to you. Believe me. May, Ned..._me_."

Peter looked up at him through his teary eyes. 

"I wasn't trying to make you think I didn't believe in you, Pete. I've been told I'm a little overbearing when it comes to protecting things I love," Tony explained, rushing through the realisation that it was the first time he had actually said that to the kid. "But uh, I can back off, I just...just wanted you to know that just because you heal quickly doesn't mean anyone wants to see you hurt, okay?"

Peter was feeling all warm and fuzzy inside as he stared back at the man, a smile pulling at his lips. His mentor, the man he viewed as a father, Tony Stark, loved him. He didn't just tolerate him and deal with Peter's mess. He loved him. 

"Does that go for you too?" Peter asked. 

Tony grinned, shaking his head.

"I've got my own issues, Pete-"

"Because I love you too, y'know," he told him softly, his cheeks turning red. "And I uh, I wouldn't want to see you hurt either,"

Peter didn't give Tony a chance to panic or freak out at his words, shoving himself back into the man's chest and hugging him tight. It was now one of Peter's favourite places. He never felt so safe and warm and protected and _loved_ and comfortable. This was a feeling he only ever felt when May held him.

Tony hugged Peter in return a few moments later, his mind rebooting and finally reacting. There were no words for what he would do for this kid right here. Including keeping himself somewhat safe and alive to always be here for him. 

"I'll do my best, buddy."


End file.
